A greyhound trainer is a person who trains

greyhounds The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-coated, "S-s ...

for

racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

. This involves exercising, feeding, and grooming them, in addition to keeping the greyhound in race condition to enable the greyhound to race to the best of its ability.

History

Before the 1930s, nearly all greyhound racing was in the form of

coursing Coursing by humans is the pursuit of game or other animals by dogs—chiefly greyhounds and other sighthounds—catching their prey by speed, running by sight, but not by scent. Coursing was a common hunting technique, practised by the nobility, ...

, ⁣⁣but track racing was established in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1919 and in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

in 1927. Today, the term 'greyhound trainer' refers mainly to track racing, because coursing has been banned in many countries.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom Greyhound trainers currently fall under two sectors: those registered by the

Greyhound Board of Great Britain The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) is the organisation that governs licensed greyhound racing in Great Britain. It does not govern independent tracks or Northern Irish tracks and therefore has no jurisdiction over them. History It wa ...

(GBGB), and a sector known as 'independent racing' or 'flapping', which is racing unaffiliated to any governing body. In Ireland, trainers are regulated by the

Greyhound Racing Ireland Greyhound Racing Ireland (, formerly ) is an Irish semi-state body charged with regulating and promoting Greyhound racing in Ireland. The organisation has been active in developing the sport in Ireland since its founding on 11 July 1958. Gr ...

Role

In greyhound racing, a trainer prepares a greyhound for races, with responsibility for exercising it, feeding it, getting it race-ready, and determining which races it should enter. In the majority of cases, they train the greyhound for an owner and look after the greyhound 24/7 at their race kennels. Greyhound trainers charge the owner a kennel fee for training the greyhound. The prize money goes to the owner. Greyhound trainers usually act as agents for their owners, including the purchasing of greyhounds from breeders. As such, they have legal obligations to their owners.

References

{{reflist Sports occupations and roles